consciousness-raising

well, it's senior week- supposed to be so much fun, and i have been having fun, relearning how to knit, spending lots of time outside, going to the farmer's market and the commons, and some other stuff...

but i still don't have a job and have been having difficulty motivating myself to keep looking.

since gloria steinem was on the l-word last week, i've been looking for more info about her, googling, etc. and i feel like she's not known, understood or revered enough among my generation. i'm currently listening to a speech she recently made at a symposium on women's sexuality at indiana university, and she said that she went to some other school (i forget exactly where) and most female students didn't know who she was. i was astounded at this, and it only cemented something i'd been feeling for the past few hours, after thinking about it-

i think we need a new sort of consciousness-raising for our generation, both dealing with gender politics and other politics, i think because of the way the debates are being framed by the right and by media censorship. and there seems to be a backlash, a rising acceptance of sexist attitudes, especially among young males, black, white, brown, etc., especially among educated folks, a growing apathy driven by consumerism and the obsession with the superficial issues presented in reality tv shoes, etc. and it's somehow gotten uncool to be progressive, to be an activist, it likens you to those old hippies.

gloria also said somethign in the same speech about how women get more radical with age, and i actually think to some degree that seems to be true, at least with some women, and i feel like my generation and younger women (and men) seem to be rejecting any association with politics, despite the high turnout in the last election.

anyway, i think i'm goign to sit and marinate with this idea, and see what i can do about it. about raising the consciousness-- here to start, is a list of radical, inspring women, that i'm eventually hoping to put on the web and expand as a resource, but it's still in production (or really, rather just begun:

bella abzug | barbara boxer | joan jacobs brumberg | heather cottin | barbara ehrenreich | emma goldman | fannie lou hamer | arlie hochschild | bell hooks | frida kahlo | diane keaton | naomi klein | natalie merchant | rosie o'donnell | marge piercy | bernice johnson reagon | adrienne rich | susan sarandon | gloria steinem | barbra streisand | alicia svigals

-and check out the flickr for new pictures.
peace out